1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to client-server systems and methods. More particularly, the present invention relates to graphical user interface-based, client-server systems and methods for decision making applications.
2. Related Art
Typically an enterprise (e.g., any commercial, scientific, technical, or other organization) has various independent databases on multiple personal, workstation, or mainframe computer systems. Conventionally, database systems were designed with a narrow focus, that is, support for a single application of an enterprise's operations. For example, a manufacturing enterprise commonly would have accounting, product, and planning functions each supported by mutually exclusive databases.
In these systems, an end user (user) typically interacts with each of the database systems from an online terminal using a user interface unique to the particular database, requiring that the user not only learn the semantics of each interface, but also requiring the invocation of each interface for those database systems which the user desires to access. Furthermore, the decision maker also is typically required to resort to using hard copy print outs and manuals to get the information which is not readily accessible online.
Moreover, databases are increasingly being used for other kinds of applications, other hand the single enterprise operation for which they were originally designed. A prominent example of this is multiple databases which are being accessed to support decision making functions of an enterprise which typically requires not only access to summary or descriptive information, but also real time operational information.
As such, more enterprises are using client-server systems consisting of a collection of databases and/or database sites and an interconnection communication network. One of the advantages of client-server systems is that such systems mirror enterprises themselves which are typically distributed into divisions, departments, projects, etcetera.
Commonly these conventional client-server systems have several limitations. Namely, these systems do not have seamless interfaces to provide a nondistributed database system appearance to the user. That is, these systems tend not to operate transparently on data that is spread across a variety of different databases, managed by a variety of different database systems, running on a variety of different machines, supported by a variety of different operating systems, and connected together by a variety of different communication networks. "Transparently" means that the application operates from a logical point of view, as if the data were accessed by a single system running on a single machine. Indeed, many of these conventional systems are more akin to remote data access or distributed processing systems in which the user is acutely aware that the data is remotely located on several databases and has to behave accordingly. Furthermore, these conventional systems do not provide an interface tailored to the needs of the user to provide enhanced response time and use.